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 During the last decade, the economy has been growing considerably in Europe, at annual rates of 3-5%. The anticipated economical and social development in coming years should result in a further increase in food consumption. Of course, this development includes significant regional differences in EU member states and provinces; however, the differences are more obvious between EU and non EU countries, in spite of the gradual development in the Eastern European region.
There have been significant changes in the food market, such as the increasing dominance of multiple retail stores and hypermarkets and also in the purchasing behaviour of the consumers. Today, many households purchase food items only occasionally – weekly, fortnightly – but in a greater quantity. In addition, there are higher expectations asn to the quality and the packaging of food products. The increasing preference for processed food, with a higher added value, is also a clear trend. Health aspects are also playing a more important role in the consumers’ choice, and a growing segment of the consumer population is interested in organic foods.
There are many factors that shape fish consumption habits. The most important factors are: price, tradition, popularity, fashion, style, availability, personal factors, advertisement, packaging, and family habits. It is obvious, that the consumption habits and consumer behaviour are formed within a complex multi-factorial system. It can be said that most people in Europe are not aloof from consuming fish products.
The average yearly fish consumption in the EU is app. 24 kg/capita, while the world average was around 13 kg/capita per year recently. Among EU member states, significant consumers are Portugal (58 kg/capita), Spain (38 kg/capita) and Finland (35 kg/capita). This level of consumption has been traditionally high in these countries, but Italy has to be mentioned as well, where the amount of fish consumption doubled and now converges on the EU average in the last decade. Fish consumption levels in Central-Eastern European countries are much lower than in Western European countries. The Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) are exceptions, where the level of consumption (and culture of consumption and processing) is close to the Western European level.
There is an inevitable and generalised competition between capture and farmed supplies in consumption, but the extent to which farmed and capture supplies are regarded as direct substitutes varies from one species to another. Given the rather blurred distinction between aquaculture and capture products, much of the discussion of demand and market applies equally to products from both sources.
One of the greatest challenges in fish marketing is how to compete successfully with meat products, which are supplied through international channels to the food market. There is no doubt that trends towards healthy eating (non-red-meat eating) and greater consumption of convenience food and processed fish have improved the market position of fish.
Dr. István Szucs is associate professor of University of Debrecen - Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development – Department of Farm Business Management. Today he is an Bólyai scholarship holder of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His fields of research are: fish farm business management, marketing of the aquaculture product.
Contact details: Böszörményi Street. 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
Phone and Fax: +36-52 526 912. E-mail: szucsi@agr.unideb.hu
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